SWIMMING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1031, 21 January 1911, Page 12

SWIMMING.

(BY TIUIDGIMX.) January 23—Worser Bay Club. January 23—Wairarapa Club, Masterton. January 28—Swift's Club. February 4, 8, .and 11'.—N.Z.. Championships. February 4—Wellington Club. March i—Swifts Club (Ladies' Branch). March 11.—Victoria College CI lib. Ttiorndon Carnival." The Thorndon Club had a splendid afternoon for its carnival, and consequently a fair.number of enthusiasts rolled.along to be entertained. The counter attractions at the Basin Reserve, and the, dullness o£the niorning, no doubt kept away as many more. The' President's Handicap, of .100 yds., which was .the principal event of the afternoon, -was productive of ' good racing. In the heats (and in Brice's 'case in tho final as well) -Healy, Roberts, and 'Brice were responsible'for-very, attractive performances,' as all threo ■ did better than Glsec. for the distance. Brice must, however, be credited .with .the besf performance. In the final lie was timed to do G2 4-ssec. bv one watch, and 63scc.- by .another. '' As" tho'Thorndon 'Baths-are nine inches slioj't of 50: yards lip record, can be claimed. On their showing, the three Thomdon ; cracks must render a good account of themselves in the New Zealand championships. The race, which was looked forward to by the. spectators, was the 300 yds. luterClub Handicap,'-this interest being owing to the meeting of Healy, Freyberg, and Stranger. Healy was scratch mail • and conceded Freyberg 3sec.,> and < Stranger. 7 sec; ' The: pace set'by Stranger brought Freyberg. and Healy along fast, - but Stranger was "all in" at 250 yds.. Freyberg rii ado a'game effort to .overhaul Jil'Leaii (34see. start),, but was not equal to tho occasion." Healy was close up to Freyberg. A. M'Leaii, the Winner of the race,- is one of tho most improved swimmers'here, and should be heard of as he matured. '•' H. Ashford, who won the 50yds.. InterClub Handicap, ,gave' promise last.year of being a very dangerous man ove'i .100 ■vds., but has done very little swimming this. season. • For some reason or other lie now takes little interest in swimming Swift Club's Carnival. The Swift Club's, carnival will bo held next Saturday and the event of the- day will of' course be the-Flying Squadron liace for tho Walker and Hall'Ctfp. This race is going to do more to stimulate interest in the siiort'in Wellington than anything ' thai ha:i" happened ill recent years. • The arrival of Cecil Healy would not-'-" cause' as .much - stir, .locally 'as'this-race-is doing: At. time of writing ieams'hav'e riot, been chosen, so,the writer will venture his selection. Tho Thorndon Club will be. represented, most likely, by Healy, Roberts;. Brice, Nelson, and Picot. R: 'lionayne is going .back' to' Auckland, and may.not'be ablo'to-obtain .tho leaVo necessary: to • allow hinv to -represent: his oil! -club. ~' ■ ' The: Wellington Club team may be Stranger, Mawby, Murrell, O'Neill, and • Wilsons -and tb'e Swifts-team Freyberg, Patterson, 'Fordham, and E. Jcnkmsoii; with .either : Jenkinsou, Smith, or Mullins as fifth man. .':• * ; > •'• With -the above • teanis .the. Thorndon Club should win-by. a.handy margin, with tho Wellington Club second. Water Polo .Topics,The selects of the teams to represent Wellington at the Now. Zealand championships' havo in the case of' the A team made . a popular selection, but tho same cannot be said of tho B team. -Morpeth, of ..the Wellington Club, was selected as. a back for the B team, notwithstanding tho fact that, lie is essentially a forward, . and is always played as such by his. club. Ivirkwood's inclusion as goalkeeper in tho B team : has also caused . discussion, it being the,opinion of polo players and those, interested in the game that F. Wilton should have had the position. Perhaps tho. fact of Wilton"playing as a forward in tho past couple "of games'has 'much'to do with his inclusion; ;

- The two teams had a practice on Monday. evening, and the, A team, playing with-good combination, achieved an easy victory. Attention, ' however,, , must be called to tho.shooting 'of a couple of the A" men. One'.of them was asked by a spectator to "bang 'cm iii,"'. and "not bo frightened of splashing water on the goalkeeper's hair." • Polo players who cannot secure positions in the senior teams are asking when the B grade fixtures will bo drawn up. .After making such an excellent start by asking the clubs to nominate B grade teams, the Polo Committee-should not allow the matter:--to -die' out. Or else, . why .not it at once, so-, as to avoid a little, trouble';, for once started, some of the lower, grade players would soon be ousting soino of the seniors. General Notes and Doings. Now that two-arc lights have, been fit ted. at the Te Aro Baths, swimmers whe cease work at G o'clock. will be ablo to enioy themselves after'tea. The novelty of night swimming will catch on well for a while, but after the middlo of February ono fears that-the attendance will bo scanty.. ' Members ■ of the City Council's Baths and Reserves Committee visiter the baths at Te Aro on Monday, and havo authorised the extension of the turning boards at each end. This is a good alteration. So also would be the thorough cleaning of the old boards. ' ' ■ ■ ■The Australasian,, championships at Sydney have been a chapter of surprises. First, .Healy was beaten in the 100 yards by. .Solomons, in 58 l-ssec. Beaurepairo and Ilealy -were beaten by W. Longworth, of Rose Bay Club, in the' 1320" yards championship, with Hardwick, and' Springfield unplaced, and then Hardwick ; won. tho 440 yards by a touch from .. Longworth and Healy. In'.the test races prior to tho championships''Healy beat Solomons in the . 100 yards, and won tho 410 comfort, nbly.from .Hardwick; who' Was about .30 yards ahead' of'Longworth. : Frank Beaurepairc ceased - swimming .when half-way in, the 440 championship, and now-it. is .'announced that ho has gone stale, and will riot compete iii the 220, SBO,- and 1700 yards championships, to be. decided at Brisbane on January 21' and' 25. . ' . Cecil Healy has evidently paid. too much attention to long distance training, and appears to have'lost liis extra.bit of pace, for in the 100 yards trial ho took 50' seconds, and in the : championship was beaten in 58.1-ssec. Hanna has put in a good deal of timo lately at the Te Aro. diving boards, and is ..hard at it training for 'the'championship dive. To win it, however, ho will have to do better than he did at Thorndon last Saturday.' Quite a number of tho local swimmers are going to Masterton for the meeting there on Monday, and. will no doubt experience a good'timo at the hands of their ; Masterton brothers. "Reg" Healy will not havo it all -his own way (in the 220 yards Wairarapa championship this year for he will be opposed,by Stranger, and it would not surprise "Trudgeon" if the latter won. ■ The Worser Bay Club will hold its carnival on Monday, and, as good entries have been received, visitors to the seaside resort should have an enjoyable day. As tho club has secured the services of Mr. Sommerville as handicapper good finishes should be the order of tho day. "Tiny" Freyberg is in good form and should swim prominently in the 100, 220, and 44flyds. championships. He was credited with doing 100 yds. in G3 2-sscc. last week. ■ - It has been somewhat amusing at the Te Aro Bath's during the past fortnight. A largo number of the swimmers evidently received stop-watches at Christmas time," and whenever any brother swimmer is' seen on tjie boards, they get to \vork. Somq sterling performances have been put un according to tlip timekeepers, but they have to be taken with a grain of salt. ' . . . '' 111 conversation with a visitor from Auckland "Trudgeon" was informed that Malcolm Champion is in splendid condition at present and the northerners are confident that he will clear tlio board at-the approaching -championship nicotine. There is a relay race at tho championship meeting, and if it is a distance of 500vds. (each man to swim 100 yds.), t.hon. in Healy,. Roberts, Br,ice, Fre.vberg, and Stranger, the local centre will havo a formidable lot competing, for each man can do Gssec. or better for the 100. The Wellington Club .will hold-its carnival on a night during the coming month. The. date will be allotted by the centre.